Wisconsin
Lawyer
Vol. 79, No. 11, November
2006
Wisconsin Supreme Court rules implementation
of new Rules of Professional Conduct effective July 1, 2007
On Oct. 25, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, in open administrative
session, adopted nearly final revisions to Chapter 20, the Rules of
Professional Conduct for Wisconsin Attorneys. The supreme court has been
studying the recommendations from a court-appointed committee to modify
Chapter 20 in light of the changes made to the Model Rules of
Professional Conduct proposed by the ABA Ethics 2000 Commission. At its
last open administrative conference, the court decided that the new
Rules of Professional Conduct will be effective July 1, 2007, giving the
State Bar of Wisconsin a six-month window to communicate the new Rule
changes to Wisconsin lawyers.
While the court has made a final decision on the majority of changes
to Chapter 20, it has reserved time to consider possible changes to the
Comment to SCR 20:1.5 on fees as well as the Comment on SCR 20:8.4
regarding lawyer misconduct. In addition, the court will continue to
review the proposed Rule Changes as they affect municipal lawyers that
prosecute matters on behalf of local government entities. It is
anticipated that a final decision will be made on these areas at an open
administrative conference in early December.
The court made some minor changes to the March 2006 draft of the
proposed Rule Changes document and will publish a final draft of the
Rules in late December or early January on the Supreme
Court's Web site.
EEOC fact sheet addresses reasonable
accommodations for employers hiring lawyers with disabilities
Attorneys with disabilities may need a range of accommodations to
apply for and perform many types of legal jobs. The U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released a guidance that
reviews reasonable accommodations that lawyers with disabilities may
need. Some of these accommodations, such as modified schedules and
telecommuting, often are used by legal employers generally to attract
and retain attorneys.
The EEOC document reports the barrier to employment that lawyers with
disabilities cite most often is lack of access to reasonable
accommodations. Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
requires private and state and local government employers with 15 or
more employees to provide "reasonable accommodation" to qualified
applicants and employees with disabilities, unless doing so would cause
an undue hardship.
Court releases petition for review guide
A 13-page guide,"Filing a Petition for Review," was recently released
by the clerk of the supreme court and the supreme court
commissioners.
"The guide is intended to be a simplified guide to the Wisconsin
rules of appellate procedure as they relate to supreme court practice
and is intended primarily for people who are not lawyers and lawyers
with limited appellate experience," says supreme court commissioner
Nancy Kopp.
Visit www.wicourts.gov/about/pubs/index.htm#supreme to download a
copy of the guide or contact the clerk's office at (608) 266-1880.
Are Americans right about their
Constitutional rights?
According to a recent survey more than eight of 10 Americans can
correctly identify that freedom of speech, freedom of the press, right
to free exercise of religion, right to a fair and speedy jury trial in
criminal cases, and the right to peaceably assemble are rights
explicitly granted by the U.S. Constitution and its amendments.
However, many Americans identified certain rights as being explicitly
granted by the Constitution and its amendments when, in fact, they are
not. For example:
- 78% believe that the right to vote is guaranteed by
the Constitution.
- 68% believe the pursuit of happiness is a
constitutionally protected right.
- 28% believe there is a right to public education in
the Constitution.
- 12% believe there is a constitutional right to
housing and a right to health care.
The survey was conducted for FindLaw.com by Harris Interactive.
Women account for half of State Bar members
under 30
According to State Bar statistics, women comprise 30 percent of the
State Bar of Wisconsin's 22,000-plus membership. Women account for 50
percent of the members under 30 years of age, 42 percent of the 30-39
age group, 35 percent of the 40-49 age group, 25 percent of the 50-59
age group, and 9 percent of members in the 60 years and older
category.
New projects will help courts provide access
to legal information for self-represented litigants
Three pilot projects are under way in Wisconsin that will help raise
public understanding of the legal process. Development of the projects
began at the Midwest Regional Conference on Pro Se Litigation, presented
by the American Judicature Society, in Des Moines, Iowa, in September.
Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson appointed eight team members to
represent the state at the conference.
Wisconsin Pro Se team members include (seated from left): Ann
Zimmerman, Supreme Court Pro Se Coordinator; Jane Colwin, State Law
Librarian; Robert Hagness, Judicial District 10 Access to Justice
Coordinator; and Gregg Moore, 10th Judicial District Administrator.
Standing: Marsha Mansfield, U.W. Law School; Trudy Schmidt, Burnett
County Circuit Court Clerk; Jeffery Brown, State Bar of Wisconsin Pro
Bono Coordinator; and Judge Ed Vlack, St. Croix County Circuit
Court.
One pilot project will provide information to self-represented
litigants at public libraries, with library staff training to be
provided by the State Law Library and local courts. The project will be
tested in the Tenth Judicial District, head-quartered in Eau Claire.
Another project will expand the familiar free legal information
clinic model to more rural areas by using videoconferencing to connect
members of the public with volunteer lawyers located in another county.
This project will be tested in the Ninth Judicial District,
headquartered in Wausau.
The third project will involve developing a self-help clinic in a
county courthouse (location to be determined). The clinic will be
staffed by volunteer lawyers and others, possibly with additional
assistance from interested court members.
"Our intent is to make use of existing resources and creative ideas
with track records in other states to help our courts provide meaningful
access to legal information for self-represented litigants while
alleviating the burden of providing such assistance on court personnel,"
said Ann Zimmerman, Wisconsin's statewide pro se coordinator who is a
member of the team that will develop these projects.
The conference was sponsored by the American Judicature Society with
funding from the Chicago Bar Foundation, the Iowa State Bar Foundation,
Drake University Law School, and the State Justice Institute, a
nonprofit organization established by federal law to award grants to
improve the quality of justice in state courts nationwide.
Representatives from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota,
Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah also attended
the conference.
Wisconsin
Lawyer
